In depth Analysis

Crisis builds: Government blind to change!

Kathmandu: The nexus between former Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai’s India trip and the spurt of activities revitalizing the no confidence motion against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala should seem all too obvious. Whatever, the new phase thus signaled would hint at the ruling party’s chaos. A last ditch attempt is evidently being made to unseat Koirala and allow his replacement as all powerful Prime Minister to conduct the Pokhara convention. Here too, the message is that Girija babu will rule the roost at Pokhara if he is allowed to conduct the Pokhara convention. KP, recognizing the advantage of conducting the convention as Prime Minister, has significantly enough, denied for constitutional change thus.

It is this standpoint in which both KP and GP concur that must be looked into. The congress by and large hold the official view that the constitution has yet to be fully exercised in its current framework and so the demands for change, although a subject of review and discussions, are by and large redundant. The official congress line is that there is no agenda for change in the constitution, the opposition UML which spearheads the official move for talks on the change have one primary agenda-the UML wants an all party government from parliament to oversee elections. Evidently, the UML is aware and has previously demonstrated this awareness, that an all-party government from parliament will also have UML representation in parliament. Other parties, however, do not carry the UML point of view. The RPP, which is the second largest parliamentary party, is being told by its own party-men to come clean on its standpoints. This is because its Chairman S.B.Thapa had ridiculed the demands for constitutional change in line with congress standpoint that amendments in the constitution would seem redundant in the context of the need to exercise existing constitutional provisions fully. The bulk of the RPP apparently do not agree. The UML, which secured the largest number of votes outside parliament, on the other hand, has been voicing the need for a proportional system of representation in parliament and direct elections of the Prime Minister. Clearly, this means that a total constitutional overhaul and not just amendments.

At a UML sponsored meeting with constitutional amendment as agenda, the UML found itself alone in its standpoint. The bulk of the participation might have agreed on their voiced need for impartial electoral government, but the bulk also stressed that the fault in the constitution remained in the manner of participation of the parliamentary parties and that there was need to tame this. More than plenty of hints on the referee required came in the form of demands for a larger role of the monarchy in the constitution.

As yet, the congress and the Left find this anathema. Here lies the major contradiction in the issue of constitutional amendment. Firstly, the constitution provides that only a two third majority of parliament can bring about amendments in the constitution. This would mean that, in the least, the congress and the UML concur to bring about that magic number. Both GP and KP see no reasons why their prerogative to conduct the elections from government should be compromised. In case they do so, it can be done as in the previous elections through a coalition of the two parties which is perhaps what will satiate the UMLs demands for change. But this is unlikely to quell the rising dissatisfactions at the manner politics is being conducted under the constitution. The bulk of the country is reeling under the widespread consequences of mal-government for which the constitution has no remedy other than the vote, which remains the monopoly of the larger parliamentary parties as a product of the same mal-governance.

It is obvious that the Maoists’ gains are also a consequence of this as are the proximity of opinions for constitutional change. It appears therefore, that the crisis will most likely have to sideline the predominant political organizations’ views on the matter. This is because it is these parties that are contributing to the current mal-governance. Evidently, current constitutional requirements for amendments have not foreseen the demand for change.

Corruption: Those who thrived on ‘local brews’ now need ‘Scotch Whisky’

Kathmandu: Never had a Kathmandu seminar witnessed such hatred against Nepali politicians. Perhaps it was for the first time in the history of Nepal’s "nascent democracy" the participants of the seminar concluded that the system has been given a very bad name due to the corrupt practices of the men manning the system. It was also first time that Nepalese scholars lamented over the deteriorating law and order situation in the country and the government’s total inability in checking the negative trend. More specifically, it was perhaps the first seminar in which the Speaker of the Lower House of the Nepalese Parliament bluntly accepted the fact that the "rag-bag-bobby-tail" of the yester years now possess colossal bank balance and that corruption at the highest political level had been rampant in a top-down fashion. Majority of the seminar participants even predicted that if the system now in force would see a jolt, it would solely be due to the follies and the corrupt practices of Nepali politicians which, opined the participants, already have disillusioned the lay men who now question for whose benefit the new system had been brought.

The attending intellectuals warned the establishment to do away with the anomalies that have gripped the nation or else prepare itself to face consequences of gravest dimensions.

The beauty of the fiery deliberations had been that none of the participants could dare to divulge the names of the corrupts in the government, however, it was clear to all that the scholars had been pointing out at the men at the highest echelons in the government and the party who had remained instrumental in degrading the very virtues and the inherent qualities of the system. The first session of the seminar will go a long way in sending signals to the corrupts that their days have approached to go to the bars.

The seminar had been organized by "Nepal Forum for Human Rights and Development" in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung last Saturday.

At the opening ceremony of the seminar, Subash Nemwang, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee indirectly hinted that the men in the establishment have committed numerous irregularities of grave dimensions, which have got to be unearthed by the committee as a part of its prime duty. He however opined that the past ten years saw the emergence of "’taking the laws in the hands" which created a mess in the financial discipline of the country.

"If the PAC is made weak, the whole of the parliamentary system would be weakened"’, added Nemwang who at the moment is looking into the LAUDA AIR alleged scandal.

MP Omkar Prasad Shrestha, a declared supporter of Bhattarai in the congress, lashed out at the government and its various bodies and said that all lacked transparency and accountability thus contributing to the utter confusion in and among the populace regarding the very suitability of the system.

According to Shrestha, looking at the performances of the leaders during the past ten years of this new order, there is little to applaud", concluded Shrestha.

The most scathing attack on the government and its leaders came from the sitting Speaker Taranath Rana Bhat who preferred to pass on a humiliating comment on the sitting home minister’s comment in which he had said that "those who were afraid of the Maoists were not fit to live in". "How could he could dare to humiliate the people and why we have been passing on undesirable comments on the sovereign people", questioned the Speaker. This apparently hinted that these two leaders were not in good terms these days. Perhaps the lobbies are different, to say the least.

Describing the country’s situation at the moment to be chaotic, Speaker Bhat bluntly told that "those who longed for home made "RAKSHI" now demand Scotch Whiskey and that how could those politicians who were bare footed till ten years back could now own five storied posh buildings. "Is this not an act of corruption"’, asked the Speaker. (Local Rakshi is supposedly the lowest quality of the liquor).

"’Gone are the days of cheating", warned the Speaker.

Talking on the burgeoning problems of the poor lot in the villages, he said that a hungry bowl has no free time to think on the issues such as the one of today being discussed because his first duty is to feed his bowl and if time is left only then can he think on these national issues.

He also urged the civil societies to remain alert and act like a watch-dog or else the system will not remain as a system.

From the Chair, the chairman of the forum, Mr. Subash Pokhrel made it clear that unless all the organs of the establishment, various civic societies including the media exhibited its true commitments towards the system, the people at the grass-roots will continue to remain neglected to the detriment of the system now in place.

Presenting his paper in the first session, DR. Minendra Rizal highlighted the various facets of corruption prevalent in the Nepali society. He how ever admitted that the country must get out of this menace at the earliest or else any thing could happen any time.Dr. Rizal also has outlined various measures which if put in to practice could at least curb the menace to a greater extent. Senior economist Guna Nidhi Sharma commented on Dr. Rizal’s paper. Subash Nembang chaired the session.( We will print Dr. Rizal’s paper beginning next year-chief editor).

Mr. Som Thapa presented his paper during the second session. The paper was commented by Dr. Sushil Raj Pandey and chaired by Omkar Shrestha.

Thus came to an end the seminar. The organizers deserve deep appreciation.

President Chandrika looks forward to the next SAARC Summit in Kathmandu

Kathmandu: The SAARC Secretariat commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation at its premises on 8 December 2000.

The event gave an impression that nothing had gone wrong with the SAARC process despite the fact that the whole movement is currently under stress due to the abrupt suspension of the eleventh Summit which was scheduled in Kathmandu late last year.

However, not every thing has yet gone to the dogs and a ray of hope has emerged in the South Asian sky which hints that the entire process will come to the original tracks within a month or so.

The Sri Lankan President Chandrika in a message sent on the occasion, for example, has said that, "as Chair of SAARC, Sri Lanka is deeply committed to moving the SAARC process forward".

"It is with that objective in view that we initiated action to hold an extraordinary meeting of the SAARC member countries at a senior officials’ level in Colombo last month", President Chandrika added.

The current Chair of SAARC has hoped that the next SAARC summit in "Kathmandu" to work out new strategies to bring peace and prosperity to our peoples in the near future.

(Telegraph adds: It has been reliably learnt that some countries of the region though participated in the last meeting of the senior officials in Colombo, but created some unnecessary debates on certain matters damaging the whole SAARC spirit).

On the same occasion, Nepal’s Prime Minister also delivered his speech wherein he has said that "it is encouraging to note that the meeting of SAARC senior officials in Colombo has recommended timeframe for the meetings of various technical committees and that once this cycle is complete, we hope that the Charter bodies will meet to take necessary decision on the recommendation and provide instruction and guidelines for future action".

As next host of the SAARC Summit, Nepal’s Prime Minister touched upon only peripheral matters of the process. However, during his speech the Nepali Prime Minister for the first time perhaps paid tributes to the founding fathers of the SAARC movement.

To recall, two of the founding fathers of the SAARC process were two military rulers from two friendly countries in the region. To add to this we still possess one autocratic ruler amidst us who also is one of the founding fathers of the same process of the regional cooperation.

In accordance with the Charter, the objectives of SAARC were among other things: to promote the welfare of the peoples of SA and improving their quality of life; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity, and to realize their full potentials; to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of the region; to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problems; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries; to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interests; and to cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes.

To mark the Charter Day, children’s Art competition was organized by the secretariat. The art competition was open to all schools of the Valley. Prizes were awarded to Gineez Singh of Kanya Secondary School; Yamuna Pun of Siddhartha Vanasthali Institute; Roshani Shahi of Bhanubhakta Memorial High School; Rajen Rai of Buddha Academy; Shilpa Chand and Shreeansh Agrawal of Alok Vidyaashram.

TG Adds: The same day the Indian Ambassador to the Nepali court, Dev Mukerjee donated books for the library of the SAARC Secretariat.

RF Senators arriving Nepal

Kathmandu: A Parliamentary delegation from the Russian Federation is arriving Nepal this week.

Mr. Prousak leads the delegation.

Mr. Prousak is the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Senate.

Altogether six senators from the Russian Federation are supposed to visit Nepal this week.

The Russian delegation will meet various Nepalese dignitaries and is supposed to concentrate their talks on enhancing the bilateral ties at all the practical and possible levels.

This is perhaps the first high level delegation from the Russian Federation, which will come to Nepal after a span of many years.

The delegation is landing Kathmandu on 15 December, it is learnt from the Russian Federation embassy sources.

The visit of the Russian delegation assumes special significance in the sense that it is taking place soon after Russian President Putin concluded his India trip recently.

Troubles of various sorts encircle Koirala

Kathmandu: He is in deep trouble. The trouble to a great extent is his own making say a section of his own partymen who openly admit that they fall under the disgruntled category. From all possible sectors, he is being attacked. Unfortunately, the situation in the country appears to have gone out of his hand.

He is Prime Minister Koirala who is concurrently the party president and wishes to continue in both of the prestigious posts to which his young friends from the opposite camp deny him albeit with the tacit support from known conspiratorial leader K.P.Bhattarai.

The Maoists have stepped their activities against the establishment; the tourism hotel industry is practically in a mess, thanks a temporary truce has prevented it from going to the brink; schools have been closed for a week or so under threat and the government is unable to resume it; a sitting senior judge at the nation’s apex court openly passes on the remark on the government and the police force to have violated the norms of the constitution and thereby challenging the HRs of the lay men; the police force is slowly losing confidence; the strike in the medical sector; corruptions at the higher level have irritated the people to the extent that they predict unfortunate events to follow; the unwarranted police firing at a Maoists’ affiliated female workers gathering and the subsequent killing of a Law Graduate female worker and their avowal to retaliate in the same manner; the Lauda air scandal which indirecly involves the Prime Minister himself and a hosts of other burning problems all put together bodes seriously ill for Koirala and his "regime". Add to this the frontal attacks on Koirala from within his own party men who wish to snatch "power" from him at the earliest.

Further, the daddy of all the problems that Premier Koirala will have to face supposedly sooner or later is the no confidence motion against with single agenda: ouster from Prime ministership so that he can not influence the Pokhara meet of the party scheduled next January.

Interestingly enough, whether it is a mere coincidence or some thing else that the talk of no confidence motion against Koirala has surfaced instantly after Bhattarai landed in Kathmandu from his India trip.

A nervous Koirala is learnt to have met his bete noir-Bhattarai- and apparently sought his support in easing the national problems which of late had taken the form of a mound.

A determined Bhattarai apparently told his "old friend" to quit from one of the posts the latter has been holding.

A speechless Prime Minister is reported to have immediately left Bhattarai’s quarter upon listening to the latter’s ‘most cruel’ remarks.

In the meanwhile, media sources close to the Deuba camp say that altogether 57 signatures have already been collected which were sufficient to push the no confidence motion against Koirala in the congress parliamentary committee and later in the parliament.

However, sources close to the ruling Koirala faction opine that the rival camp has yet to muster the magic number, which could oust Koirala from the current post of the chief of the executive.

"It is all fabricated news", said a Koiralaite to this scribe.

Be that as it may, what could be fairly predicted is that Prime Minister Koirala is certainly in deep trouble. How he tackles all these unceremonious events-some yet to unfold- will perhaps test the political acumen of Koirala and his supporters.

Police exceeds its functions in Narayangarh

Kathmandu: Nepal’s police force appears to have gone crazy. It is slowly but very steadily loosing its former reputation of being a disciplined and responsible force.

The soi disant police force last Saturday exhibited its merciless behavior when it suddenly pounded a group of female worker belonging to the Maoists outfit converged for their "area meeting" which saw the untimely death of a young girl, Gauri Sapkota-a student of B.L second year in Kathmandu.

Ms. Sapkota was neither a Maoists worker nor a resident of Narayangarh, where the ghastly incident occurred last Saturday in broad day light, instead she was in that town for a family reunion.

The police shot her when she was crossing the said area where the policemen were clashing with the Maoists female workers.

Eyewitness said, the Maoists’ outfit had simply gathered to hold their area meeting and all of a sudden the police started snatching the mike. Naturally it invited the female workers to retaliate and in the process the firing occurred which was simply unwarranted.

The police firing left several women activists injured who were at the moment under medical treatment.

Political forces other than the ruling congress, all have condemned the police action against the unarmed women folks. They have unequivocally condemned the killing of innocent civilian Ms. Sapkota.

The local UML party and the ANFSU district committee have issued a statement condemning the whole sad incident.

In retaliation of the police excesses, the female workers of the Maoists faction have vowed to take "befitting actions".

Responsible persons opine that until and unless the women activists done some thing wrong against the local administration, the group should have been allowed to conduct their meeting. After all the constitution allows for this provided they do not exceed the limits set by the constitution.

The Narayangarh incident has once again provided further proof that Nepal’s police force exceeds its functions.

The International HR organizations must look in to the matter and act accordingly.

Yesterday saw the total closure of Narayangarh in protest of the Saturday’s unfortunate event.

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